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One of the most interesting debates in the Detroit bankruptcy case has been the fate of the art collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA).
In an argument supported by many of the city’s creditors on May 15, Marc Kieselstein, an attorney for bond insurer Syncora, suggested that outside experts should be allowed to take artwork off the walls to help determine its value, according to The Detroit Free Press.
Waxing somewhat lyrical, Kieselstein told Judge Rhodes that the art was part of the city’s “glory days,” and that anyone who denied that was “cold, unfeeling and stupid,” the news source reported. However, he argued, in a bankruptcy case “some edifying things have to yield to things more base, some would say grubby,” like paying creditors.
In what has been called “the grand bargain,” the DIA and the state have pledged $816 million to help lessen the bankruptcy’s effect on pensions in exchange for the city not selling off the DIA’s art. This agreement is crucial to Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr’s restructuring plan to get the city out of bankruptcy.
Rhodes said that he would consider the idea, and after a recess, he ruled that there are no grounds for such an “extraordinary” step, according to The Associated Press. He said that experts can view the art just like any other patron – for the price of admission. The judge left it up to the museum to decide whether it would allow creditors access to the art it holds in storage.
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